iPods: A double-edged sword for those with pacemakers

What an irony! Back on March 27, 1007, Sibananda posted an article reporting that instead of using stethoscopes to recognize heart problems, doctors have found that using an Ipod gives up to 80% accuracy as opposed to the 40% offered by a stethoscope.....

You can check out that article HERE. That certainly sounds like a great improvement. But as with so many new things, there's often a downside, like this: It's now been found by a 17-year-old aspiring doctor that Ipods can interfere with cardiac pacemakers:

Held several centimetres from patients' chests for five to 10 seconds, iPods interfered with or altered the pacemakers' readings nearly half of the time.

Does this mean that someone with a pacemaker can't use an iPod? Well no, but it's recommended that the two devices be kept away from each other. So I guess that means when old Joe is out for some exercise and puts his "ears" (as I call them) on, he'd better make sure that he's not holding that iPod close to his pacemaker i.e. better have it hooked onto a belt or something. Thing is, this article made me curious about something: I'm presuming of course that most people wearing a pacemaker are elderly. So is it likely that that same person has embraced modern technology to that extent that they be using an iPod with the frequency and reverence that the younger generation do? So I'm asking you older folks like me out there i.e. the baby boomers and beyond, do you run around with an iPod? Do you own one? If not, why not? If so, why so? You see, I have a hard time understanding why today's younger people have to be tuned in all the time. Do any of them just take time to enjoy the sounds of birds cheeping nearby, trees rustling in the wind, leaves falling in autumn, or the laughter of children in a park. Somehow I feel they are really missing something when they walk around hearing nothing but what's on their iPods. Or is it me that's missing something? Anyone...?